The insurethebox analysis of driving behaviour during the FIFA 2018 World Cup shows that speeding increased by a fifth among 17-24 year old drivers in the hour before England matches. The more important the game, the greater the increase in speeding.
And the risk heightened further when matches were played at weekends. Over half of all serious accidents on country roads involving 17-24 year olds are due to loss of control – largely due to speeding – and insurethebox believes it is vital to get the message out to young drivers to kill their speed.
Mike Swanborough, Chief Executive Officer of Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company of Europe SE, commented: “The use of data to influence positive change is at the heart of our business. Over the last two years, our award-winning speed reduction campaign has used unique insight to connect with customers who frequently speed, highlighting the risk of an accident and urging them to slow down and take more care. Our work has seen speeding instances among the highest risk drivers reduce by about 28%. This has cut the frequency of accidents among young drivers by 9%, reduced the damage caused when bumps do occur, helped save the distress of making a claim and, more importantly, reduced the risk of catastrophic injury.”
“We know that young drivers are four times more likely to crash in the first three months of their policy than their final three. And now, with this new insight, we can focus on a particular group of drivers with a targeted campaign.”
Liz Brooker, MBE, Vice Chair, RSGB added: “Helping young drivers to understand the risks associated with inappropriate speed is vital to help reduce the number of collisions and casualties caused by speeding. At Road Safety GB we believe that a combination of communication and intervention can deliver measurable results. Indeed, our National Conference later this year will set out to demonstrate how road safety professionals can combine the four ‘E’s’ – education, enforcement and engineering, underpinned by evidence – to deliver casualty reduction improvements. And this initiative by insurethebox will provide useful insight for that debate.”
Midlands fans hit the accelerator the most
During the World Cup, young drivers from the Midlands sped the most: during the group stage games their speeding increased by 46%. This increased further through the knockout stages as England gained momentum, with speeding up by a massive 78%. Young drivers in the East of England ranked second overall, with a 133% increase in speeding before the Croatia semi-final – the highest in the country for this match.
And while young drivers in the West of England appeared to stay within the speed limit during the group stages of the World Cup, when England played Sweden there was a 167% increase during the hour before the game. Fans in the North were also more excited by the Sweden game, recording a 161% increase.
Big game jitters
The insurethebox analysis suggests that the level of speeding among 17-24 year old drivers during the England World Cup campaign was largely dictated by the importance of the game. In the hour before England played Belgium, the likelihood of young drivers speeding increased by 7%. However, before England’s semi-final against Croatia, there was a 43% hike in young motorists speeding and young motorists spent 1 in every 5 miles speeding compared to the usual average of 1 in every 9 miles.
Weekend matches also signalled a sharp rise in speeding. Across the tournament there was a 30% increase in the amount of speeding per mile before any weekend game. This is especially important for football fans in the UK, as games are most commonly played on weekends.
While speeding during the tournament can largely be attributed to young men, who increased their speed by an average of 38%, speeding among women drivers also increased by 31%.
Mike Swanborough added: “’It’s coming home’ has been a popular message for football fans this summer. But fans must make sure that no matter how big the game, it is not worth the risks that come with speeding. insurethebox is leading this campaign to empower young drivers to better manage their behaviour so that they and other road users stay safe.”
Read the full report here
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